Summer is unofficially here, but we don't stand on ceremony. We ushered in this most anticipated season the first time we cracked open the grill lid and cooked up some burgers. I think almost everything tastes better on the grill and we've been experimenting with cooking more than just meat on ours.
Josh got the opportunity to go fishing last week with a close friend who is moving He brought home two brook trout and painstakingly cleaned them and took the skin off. You can eat the skin of trout, but most often it seems to peel off, along with the seasonings, once it's been baked or broiled. We coated it in cajun and lemon pepper seasoning and decided to grill it on foil. But we were out of foil. I made a quick dash into the grocery store to get some and the yellow on the box of this Non-Stick Reynolds Wrap caught my eye.
Heavy duty. Non stick. Sounded good and hopefully wouldn't peel the seasoning off our trout.
It didn't. This is truly beautiful stuff.
I've since cooked apples with brown sugar and pecans on the grill using this foil to make a tray for it and did the same for my first ever batch of jalapeno poppers. Nothing burned, nothing stuck to it. It didn't rip, it didn't get all wrinkly. This was a good find.
Amazing how something so simple can make cooking easier.
Now, you probably don't care half as much about this foil as you do my jalapeno poppers. Not to make your mouth water, but they were amazing. I got the recipe from my Pioneer Woman cookbook, the first one. The recipe isn't available on her website, so I must share it with you, Steph-style of course. They are EASY! If I'd known how easy, I would have made them years ago.
First, you'll need a bunch of fresh jalapenos, larger ones are nice. I think I used about 10 of them. I recommend wearing gloves if you can when handling them. It's hard to get the oils from them off your hands and you might feel the burn in ways you wish you hadn't. With that said, cut them in half, scoop out the seeds or leave them in if you like serious heat.
To make the stuffing, you'll need a package of cream cheese and about 1/2 cup of cheddar or pepper jack cheese. I just scooped a few handfuls in. I added some sliced green onion. Mix it up. Stuff each pepper half. (This is so easy, as the cheese mixture is like Play-Dough in consistency). Next, either wrap each pepper in half a slice of bacon or do what I did- cook the bacon ahead of time and then lay a piece on top of the cream cheese mixture. Last, baste it with your favorite BBQ sauce. But a toothpick or skewer through each one. Lay a piece of Reynolds Non-Stick Foil on your grill. Set the peppers on it and cook for about 20 minutes (if using precooked bacon).
Finally, eat way more of them than you thought you would. The bacon and BBQ sauce make them irresistible. Isn't bacon like a gift from God? I know that's heresy to many. But I tend to think it's true.
